mounted orchids under halides
 

so i get to have fun with the boss's money. in the pet store i work at we are making a display tank that is full of submerged plants for aquariums and then some driftwood sticking out of the tank to look like a swamp. the tank has 500 watts of metal halide light above it and we would like to mount some cool orchids on the driftwood. the plants would be anywhere from a foot to two feet away from the lights. any suggestions from anyone would be awesome.

Hi Frogman,
I don't have any suggestions right now but I thought I could bounce this post back up and someone may be able to help. (Mounts and I don't get along very well) It sounds like you have enough light for just about anything. Good luck.
John

I'm not sure how well orchids would fair that close to metal halides, as I don't have any experience trying to grow them under anything other than PC fluorescents. However, you can also do bromeliads as well. Most get their best color under intense lighting like that, and it'll give you something to show color constantly, rather than just when they bloom. Look at the Neoregelias, especially something like "Fireball"...cheap, easy to get, and very colorful.

I don't do mounted orchids, but I do run with HID lights. I'm assuming that you will be using 2 x 250 Metal Halide systems. I would be concerned about the temperature that will be attained in the tank. Before getting orchids that need cooler temperatures than you can achieve, I'd set it up, and do a test run to find out my temp. range then you will have a better idea of what kind of orchids you will be able to grow.
Regards,
Melanie

ps. keep plants about a foot away from the bottom of the bulb, otherwise it will be too hot for most plants.

they sit about 2 feet away from the lights so im not too worried. the bromeliads are doing awesome under there as is the encyclia that i have mounted. any suggestions would be helpful

I think any warm growing Catt's will work great. Check out Andy's Orchids - Orchids Species - Orchids - Species Specialist - Orchids on a stick he has some great mini's and compacts that will work for. The best way is to call them and see what they have,they are very nice and will answer any questions you have. Good Luck and we would love to see some Pictures.